Review Book The Death House
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Review Book - The Death House
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| Death House |
Toby’s life was perfectly normal… until it was unravelled by something as simple as a blood test.
Taken from his family, Toby now lives in the Death House; an out-of-time existence far from the modern world, where he, and the others who live there, are studied by Matron and her team of nurses. They’re looking for any sign of sickness. Any sign of their wards changing. Any sign that it’s time to take them to the sanatorium.
No one returns from the sanatorium.
Living in his memories of the past, Toby spends his days fighting his fear. But then a new arrival in the house shatters the fragile peace, and everything changes.
Because everybody dies. It’s how you choose to live that counts.
About the Author :
Sarah Pinborough is a critically acclaimed horror, thriller and YA author. She has written for New Tricks
on the BBC and has an original horror film in development. Sarah was
the 2014 winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Novella, and has
three times been short-listed for Best Novel. She has also been
short-listed for a World Fantasy Award. She lives in London.
Reviews :
Sarah
Pinborough's The Death House is a stunning, powerful, painful, and yes,
beautiful, read. The speculative elements are slight, but all the more
intriguing for it. The focus is squarely on the main character, Toby,
and the sudden turn of events that lands him in the Death House
alongside other children who've suffered the same fate. Its brilliance
is in the characters and the whiplash of emotions they (and you) go
through during this short, engrossing read. Fans of Neil Gaiman, Lord of
the Flies, and light psychological horror should give this a go.
There’s a
whole generation of kids right now growing up on a steady diet of YA
dystopia, and when they are ready to move on to more solid grown-up
fare, here is the book to get them there.
Here is a dystopia we-the-reader don’t even see, don’t have explained to us beyond the barest of bare-bones basics. There’s no scrappy rebellion against the system, no Team This Guy and Team That Guy ‘ship wars.
In this world, kids are routinely blood-tested for some never-named disease / genetic anomaly. The ones whose results come back as ‘Defective’ are, with no warning, picked up by agents in vans and whisked away to a boarding school on an island. There, they just … wait. Every now and then, kids get sick and are taken upstairs to the sanatorium, never to be seen again.
So many questions! The symptoms of the disease seem to vary, the kids share rumors about its effects and history, but none of them know, so neither do we. The nurses and teachers, overseen by Matron, are cool and detached. Lessons are perfunctory. Socialization is pretty much left to fend for itself.
Here is a dystopia we-the-reader don’t even see, don’t have explained to us beyond the barest of bare-bones basics. There’s no scrappy rebellion against the system, no Team This Guy and Team That Guy ‘ship wars.
In this world, kids are routinely blood-tested for some never-named disease / genetic anomaly. The ones whose results come back as ‘Defective’ are, with no warning, picked up by agents in vans and whisked away to a boarding school on an island. There, they just … wait. Every now and then, kids get sick and are taken upstairs to the sanatorium, never to be seen again.
So many questions! The symptoms of the disease seem to vary, the kids share rumors about its effects and history, but none of them know, so neither do we. The nurses and teachers, overseen by Matron, are cool and detached. Lessons are perfunctory. Socialization is pretty much left to fend for itself.
This was a
fascinating book, and one I highly recommend. A gothic romance of
sorts told as a fable. Powerfully emotional, often shocking and complex
enough to keep you on your toes, not so much with the plot twists,
which are fairly telegraphed, frankly, but with the way the characters
act and react to shocking, horrific, unreal situations.
Not without its flaws, for sure, but the pluses definitely outweigh any nagging negatives. This one will stay with you for a long time and haunt you - the overall affect, like the northern lights described within, is brilliant. A must-read.
Not without its flaws, for sure, but the pluses definitely outweigh any nagging negatives. This one will stay with you for a long time and haunt you - the overall affect, like the northern lights described within, is brilliant. A must-read.
- Genres : Dystopian, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal & Urban
- Publisher : Titan Books (September 1, 2015)
- Publication Date : September 1, 2015
- Paperback : 320 pages
- Product Dimensions : 5.1 x 0.8 x 8 inches
- Language : English
Description
: Review Book The Death House
Rating
: 4.5
Reviewer
: Bey Alhamdi
ItemReviewed
: Review Book The Death House
